Tales From The (ME)RP
by LufiaGuy2000
Summary: A young man named Anton suddenly finds himself inside the world of a game that he's always wanted to play ever since he heard it was first coming out. But, it will prove to be a bit of a challenge... This story takes place inside the world of a roleplay that I am in. The intro has nothing to do with the RP, but it will have some backstory. R n' R!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon, or Nintendo, or Game Freak, or white chocolate mochas. I _do_ own the OC's that I use (As of now, Anton and his family. That being said, enjoy the chapter.

I thought today was going to be a normal day. I assumed that I was to go to the mall with my mother and father, grab a few clothes to try on, go to the game store they had there to pick up the latest addition to the Pokémon series that I had pre-ordered - Pokémon X - and then stop at the coffee store for some revitalizing white chocolate mochas, and then leave the mall, go home, and I was going to peacefully play Pokémon X until the break of dawn.

Boy, was I ever so wrong.

 _Very_ wrong.

Oh, I should probably introduce myself before I continue. My name is Anton Wells, and I'm not quite sure how I got here in Kalos. Let's see, here… I'm 17 years old, so there's that… I'd say that I'm about 5'11", weigh in at about 170 pounds, and a few other things. I should also add that I'm fairly athletic, but I'm nowhere near athletic enough to get into any professional sports. I'm fairly decent when it comes to parkouring my way around things, but I'm nowhere near good enough to start that up as a profession of mine… I have a fair bit of muscle, but not a whole ton, and it's mostly centered around my arms and legs. If it helps, I can also defend myself fairly well with a knife.

But… enough of that… let me tell you what happened from the very beginning…

"Anton, wake up! We're at the mall!"

My mother's voice rang through my ears as I snapped awake. "Huh? What?!" I shouted, twisting and turning a bit until I realized that I was inside my mother's Dodge Intrepid, which was currently parked in the front of a large shopping mall made of tan bricks. It wasn't until I saw the mall's signature sign glowing on the edge that I realized where we were. "Oh, we're here?"

"Didn't I just say that?" My mother gave me a look of concern after my little 'fit' that I had when I awakened.

"It woke me up, but that doesn't mean I could understand it the first time." I replied curtly as I rubbed my head, having a bit of a headache. _Damn, my head hurts… Maybe I should ask my mom for Ibuprofen… … Nah, it can wait._ I decided as I got out of the seat I was in, crawling out the back door of my mother's old Intrepid. I saw my brother, who was the age of 22, look at me. "Hey, you okay? I know you've been having a few nightma-"

"Don't bring it up." I said shortly to my brother, shooting him a light glare from under my messy brown hair. Luckily, he received the message, and he shut up nearly immediately. I smirked lightly the moment he looked away.

"Now, now, no excitement. We're here to get in, get what we need, and get out." My mother addressed to everyone as she looked at my father. "Dave, you and I are going to the clothes shop. You have the list of everything that we need?

"Yeah, yeah, I've got everything." My father said as he stretched, making his height of at least 6 and a half feet fairly obvious to the rest of my family. It didn't surprise me, seeing as his entire bloodline was known for their height.

My mother turned to my brother, Lucas and I. "You two, you know where you're going?"

"Yeah, I-" I began, but my brother rudely interrupted me.

"Yeah, Anton and I can handle ourselves, can't we?" He said, looking at me.

I shot him another glare before I replied with a silent "Of course." under my breath. My mother looked at the both of us.

"Good. You know the drill, text me if something comes up, I always have my phone on me." She said, looking at Dave. "C'mon, Dave, let's go… It looks like it'll rain soon." She said. I took a moment to look up at the sky, and saw that it was indeed about to rain. In the distance, about a few miles away, I could even see the rain falling from the sky, looking like a clear curtain from where we currently were. I saw a few flashes in the sky, and knew that we were going to have to do this as quickly as possible if we were to beat the rain.

I turned to Lucas. "C'mon, let's go before the rain gets here." I told him as I made a dash for the entrance to the mall, barely avoiding a few cars that were driving by. The drivers shot me angry glares and a few rude gestures, but I didn't really care all that much. They were much faster than I. I dashed to the entrance and waited there for my brother, who got there within a few seconds.

"You're fast." Lucas said as he stopped to catch his breath. "Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't take longer to catch up." He said, as he looked inside. "Hey, I can see the game store over there. Let's go ahead and go there to pick up your game." He said. I replied with nothing but a nod, and began to walk to the store, taking notice of the bright neon pink sign marking it's location. It was one of those stores that are on the corner, so the entrance was at a 45 degree angle to the rest of the wall, which was entirely made of glass. I smiled and entered for the millionth time. I knew the drill.

"I see you've come." The cashier behind the counter said. The cashier was clearly going through his adolescent phase, having more zits than one could count on his face, along with quite a few freckles to go along with it. He had short red hair that was smooth and appeared to be silky from where I was standing. He also had glasses that were obviously too big for his face, for they kept sliding down, and he would have to readjust them at least once every ten seconds.

"You should know why I'm here." I gave a light smile, having known this cashier for quite a while now.

"Yes. You've come for your Pokémon X game, haven't you?" The cashier studied me for a few seconds, his dronic voice ringing in my head and sort of causing a slight buzzing in my ears, but I simply passed that off as the sound of the electric current running through the wires that I was standing near, connecting the control panel behind the counter to the neon sign out front.

"That would be correct." I replied as the cashier gave me a light smile. He gave me a finger, motioning for me to wait just a second. He pulled out a box from one of the shelves behind the counter and placed it in front of me. I could only envision the adventures that I would have in the game… catching Pokémon all around Kalos… battling trainers… taking down Gyms… eventually beating the Elite Four… And then trading all of my Pokémon to a friend for safe-keeping while I wipe the cartridge and Nuzlocke the game. "And I think that I payed up-front for it when I first ordered it?"

"That would be correct again." He said as he gave me the box, which had Xerneas on it. Design-wise, I felt that Xerneas was an amazing Pokémon, and I've even heard of it's prowess in competitive battling from what my friend said, being one of the lucky few who had gotten the game much earlier than I. "Enjoy your game, and… Try not to die." He said, his dronic voice causing a weird buzzing noise, slightly louder than the last one.

I chuckled lightly. "You need my business, after all." I said, the Borderlands reference being obvious as I stepped out of the small shop, my brother following suit. "I know that cashier all too well."

"Figured as much." My brother Lucas replied with a light chuckle as we went to the wishing fountain that was just outside and sat down on a bench, listening to the sound of the water rushing from the spurt-out points to the body of the fountain as we waited for our parents to arrive. It seemed like a perfect time to talk, or maybe play a quick game, or something.

But that's when things began to get hairy.

"Hey, wait… Do you hear that?" Lucas asked, as he strained his ears. I did the same, but didn't hear anything… except… A subtle 'ratatatatatatatatatatatatat' noise coming from the northern hallway, followed by a scream that echoed down the walls of the corridor. At that moment, everyone went silent and listened, staring down the end of the hallway. I saw a man come into the door with a set of black military-grade body armor, followed with a black helmet that matched the armor, protecting him from anything that could have come his way. I didn't think too much of it until I saw what he was holding; it was an older model of an M4 Carbine, military-grade. I knew something was up then, but when I saw three other people behind him with the exact same armor and slight weapon variances, it became painstakingly obvious what was going on.

The 'ratatatatat' noise? Gunfire.

The people? Terrorists.

There was going to be a shooting going down in this mall.

And Lucas and I were in the middle of it.

There was a long and painful pause as the group of terrorists walked down the hallway, stopping once they were about halfway between the wishing fountain and the door they had walked into. They looked at one another, nodded, and aimed all of their weapons towards the fountain; more specifically, at all of the people that were sitting there.

It didn't even take until the first gunshot for everyone to start running away from the fountain. My brother grabbed my arm and stood up, and I did the same. "Come on, we need to get out of here!" Lucas shouted at me as he ran down a random corridor, leaving the terrorists behind a corner. I looked at the terrorists with a bit of curiosity before they opened fire, killing the few who couldn't be bothered to run away. The people who were shot fell to the ground with visible holes through them, blood spurting out of the wounds. staining the clothes that no longer belonged to them. One of the terrorists, who was holding an M1917 Revolver, looked at me. I took that as my cue to follow my brother, barely managing to keep up to him. I made sure that I still had the Pokémon X box in my hand, and I clutched it tightly.

I looked around for a possible place to hide, and saw a series of stands in the center of the hallway, going down. All but one of them had someone in them, either hiding inside the stands or preparing something to defend themselves with. I eyed the stand that was currently empty; it was a stand offering electronic cigarettes and then normal cigarettes right beside it. I wasn't yet old enough to smoke, but I didn't really care, for if Lucas and I didn't find a place to hide soon, we would both be shot down like the innocent people back at the fountain. "In here!" I shouted, vaulting over the counter parkour style and ducking behind it nearly immediately. My brother Lucas tried the trick that I did, but failed, instead banging his shins against the edge of the counter. Groaning in pain, he joined me by instead going around the side and entering the gate.

"You okay?" He asked me, searching me for any injuries. I sighed and let him do so, thankful to be alive.

"Yeah, I'm fine. A little shaken, but fine." I replied as a single tear slid down my face due to the panic. I could still feel the tension rising, and I heard a single voice screaming from a fair bit away.

"Help! Help me! God help me!" It was my mother's high-pitched, snobby voice. I went wide-eyed.

"I-Is that-?!" I began, but my brother closed my mouth and peeked over the top of the counter in the direction that our mother's voice was coming from. I decided to follow his example and do the same, but it was a bit too late.

Her eyes and mine met as she began to rush in our direction. She had failed to notice the terrorist behind her, aiming his handgun at the back of her head. I couldn't stop myself before I shot my hand out in her direction, knowing that she was too far away to take it by at least fifty feet. "Mom! Look out!" I shouted before I could stop myself. She turned around to look behind her, but it was far too late. The terrorist had fired his weapon, and I could hardly stand to watch as the bullet drilled through my mother's head, going through completely and hitting somewhere about ten feet to my left. I couldn't stand to look away as she fell, the wound too serious to be healed.

As she fell to the ground, everything seemed to move in slow-motion, from her long brown hair flowing throughout the air as she fell to the ground, to her green eyes locking with mine one last time as they closed forever, to the blood spatters that were spurting out of the bullet hole. "MOM! NO!" I shouted as I prepared to vault over the counter once more, but my brother pulled me back down. I heard a few more shots being fired, and could only imagine the terrorist shooting a few more holes into my mother's pink knee-length dress.

"Andro, we have to get out of here, now!" He shouted as he looked into my eyes and nodded. Shedding another few tears, I returned the nod. "Follow my lead" He said as he stood up and began to sprint down the hallway. I got up and did exactly as he did, sprinting next to him. It only took us a few seconds to sprint down the rest of the hallway, about to turn the corner as a few handgun shots flew right past us, one of them barely nicking my ear. I winced slightly as the stinging began to worsen, but didn't bother to check if it was bleeding or not; I could already tell from the trickle running down my neck that it was. As my brother turned the corner, he stopped me, pushing me down to the ground, behind the wall.

"What?" I said, but from the look I could see on his face, I didn't even need to say anything to know that there was a terrorist behind the corner. The only other thing that tipped me off about that was the fact that my brother now had three bullet-holes in his stomach, and I heard the same 'ratatatatatat' sound from earlier, except at least three times as loud. My brother fell immediately backwards, shooting me one last glance as I rushed to his side. "L-Lucas…" I said, another tear falling down my face.

"Anton…" He said, coughing up a large amount of blood as the wounds on his stomach leaked out just as much blood. I was one for optimism, but even I knew that he wouldn't survive this. "I… I am sorry…" He said, clutching his stomach, the blood staining his white tee-shirt and his blue denim jeans. "... I have failed… I… failed… to pro.. protect…" He took a deep breath inward, and I scooted closer to him to hear his last words.

"... I… failed… t-to… protect… y-you…" He whispered as he let out his last breath and his eyes slowly closed, and Death's cold embrace overcame him.

"LUCAS!" I shouted as I flung myself on top of him, sobbing. "No… D-don't die on me, God damn it!" I shook him hard, hoping, just barely clinging to the hope that he would spring back up immediately; the hope that he would get right back up on his feet and knock the terrorist out with a single punch, or a single kick to the crotch, or something. But as I looked at him, the heartrending sensation of knowing that he was dead overcame me, and my body was racked in sobs. "Lucas… No…" I whispered, as I stopped shaking him, tears streaming down my face like a river. At that moment, I felt like the most vulnerable being on Earth, needing constant protection from the outside world…

But, at the same time, I felt like some otherworldly source was shielding me from something. Like a power of divine intervention was preventing me from stopping. I had to go on without my family, I had to go on knowing that I would be scarred for life due to what's happening now. I knew that I had to press on and continue, despite the circumstances.

That all went away when I heard the sound of an assault rifle being reloaded from above me. I slowly and cautiously looked up and saw one of the terrorists with his assault rifle now locked and loaded…

And aimed right at my head.

I blinked away a few last tears in shock as my fear kept me rooted to the ground. The last things that I heard was the sound of 'ratatatatatat' and a large amount of pain going through my head, my eyes, and my chest as my vision went red and black, and I fell over to my side. The last things that I felt was the sensation of pain and the feeling of warm, coppery blood all around me. I barely managed to open my eyes one last time, to see my brother dead beside me, and my attacker being shot at by a blue, blurry figure at one of the doors; the police. _Thank God… maybe… Maybe I'll survive this… Maybe I'll be taken out of here in a stretcher, alive. Maybe I won't die._

The moment that I thought that, I felt a boot press itself against my back, holding me to the ground. I managed to weakly groan and turn my head to my left, seeing that the source of the boot was another terrorist, aiming his pistol at the back of my head. The last thing that I heard was the silenced shot of the pistol before my vision went black, and any previous sensation of pain or fear went away.

I was dead. And I knew it now.

There was no going back.

A/N: This first chapter has nearly nothing to do with the RP itself, but it does have stuff to do with Anton's backstory, which will prove to be handy later.


	2. To Pandora!

As I felt the spirits leave my body in an instant, I realized then that I was truly dead. Unliving. But… Something still lingered inside me; it was the feeling of protection. _I'm dead… Why do I have this weird feeling…?_ I thought. That's when I heard the voices. One of them fairly deep and distinctly male, while the other was smooth, female, and seemed to lack emotion.

The voices were too dulled out for me to hear, no matter how hard I strained my ears. _What…? What is this?_ I thought in my head as the previous dull blackness of my vision suddenly turned into a bright flash of white light. The previously hard ground beneath me turned into a soft, cottony material, nearly as soft as a cloud. I felt a light breeze ruffle my hair as I slowly opened my eyes for the first time since the shooting. _Am I…? Am I even dead…?_ I asked, looking at myself.

My arms were still coated in blood, which I assumed was from when I was laying down in the pool of blood that I was in. I looked down at my chest, and frowned when I saw that the wounds were still there, although I felt no pain or agony from said wounds. Not even when I rubbed the wounds with my finger did I feel pain. I looked around; I seemed to be standing on what looked like a platform made of cotton, with the empty sky above me. The sun seemed interlocked directly above me, as if it were barely past noon, and the air had a smell that seemed peaceful, like the outdoors on a nice spring day. My hearing gradually began to fade back in, the hammering of my heart now a mere throb, and I could hear the voices coming from my left.

"What about this 'Anton' man?" The deeper, male voice seemed to echo throughout the empty landscape.

I glanced to my left from where I heard the voice coming from. I saw nothing except for a wall made of the same cloud-like material that I was standing on, broken only by a gate that was planted in the center of the wall. I slowly approached the gate as my heart began to hammer against my chest once more.

"What about him? He was killed along with a few others during that terrorist shooting in New Jersey." The female voice said, somehow drilling it's way into my brain. _So… I'm dead…? Am I in heaven or something?_ I asked myself, shaking my head and continuing to listen through the gate, pressing my ear against it, praying that it wouldn't make a sound. Luckily, the gate was also made of clouds, so it didn't make a noise.

"He seems… _different_ … Than the others that we've dealt with." The male voice asked, and I couldn't help but crack open the gates, somehow remaining silent as they opened. I peeked through the tiny crack that the opening of the gates made, and I could hardly believe my eyes at what I saw… No, it wasn't God. Rather…

I saw Arceus standing near a large throne that was seemingly also made of clouds. _Arceus… Does this mean… Pokémon… Does this mean they're real?_ I asked myself in utter confusion as I continued to listen to the conversation, praying that I wouldn't be seen to God… or Arceus… I still wasn't sure what to believe about religion now.

"How, my lord?" The female voice asked again. _But… Who is that female voice? Who else is in the room with Arceus…?_ I thought as I cracked open the gates just a bit more. Surprisingly, they were still silent. A quick glance around the room showed, from my vantage point, Virizion talking things over with Arceus. I went wide-eyed at this. _So… They_ are _real…?_ I thought to myself, failing to notice that both Arceus and Virizion were glancing in my direction.

"That, is how." Arceus asked, placing emphasis on 'That' as I felt an invisible force dragging me into the room. "He arrived here with both body and spirit intact, unlike most others who die here."

"Which means… Someone… One of _us_ … was protecting him from above." Virizion said, looking around the room, and finally laying her eyes on me. "One of the legendaries has the will to keep you alive, Anton. Who it is, I know not. _We_ know not." She confirmed, with a nod towards Arceus, who returned the nod.

"At any rate… We can't exactly return you to Earth… Your people would get suspicious about how you came back to life... Everybody saw you get shot multiple times. You're lucky that one of us granted you the gift of divine protection." Virizion said to me. _The one thing that confuses me is how I can understand what they're saying... Is it telepathy? A miracle? Do these Pokémon somehow speak English? Or is there some kind of darker magic at play here?_ I thought to myself, but I simply pushed the thought aside.

"If you can't send me back to Earth, then is there a point to keeping me alive at all?" I asked, a small temper beginning to rise in my throat.

"We could always send him to Pandora, couldn't we, my Lord?" I heard Virizion ask. _Is there a reason that she keeps referring to Arceus as "my Lord?"_ I mentally inquired, thinking about how Arceus was the ruler of all, and I could only assume due to the way that Virizion was acting that Arceus ruled over the other legendaries as well. I decided to ask at another time.

Arceus seemed to be thinking about what Virizion had said. "That isn't a bad idea, Virizion. The two world basically have nothing related with one another at all." Arceus board his head down towards me. "Unless he would rather be dead, of course."

I shook my head very quickly after that, "N-no, Pandora sounds like a good choice." I quickly said as I looked around in a slight panic. I felt a fairly warm breeze flow about me. "Sounds quite adventurous and fun."

"We shall see how you fare, in that case. To Pandora, you shall go, then." Arceus said with a projecting voice that echoed around the cloud walls. "I fill your spirit with life, and bid you farewell surviving in the world of Pandora!" At that, I felt another sudden warmth engulf me as a bright flash blinded me, and then a loud ringing in my ears began to occur, leaving me basically senseless; even the wonderful smell of the area I was in had faded.

And then blackness, and then unconsciousness.

As I slowly regained consciousness, I realized that I was laying on a surface that was cold, hard, and wet. I could tell from the multitudes of raindrops hitting my back as well as the boom of thunder, that I could barely hear because my hearing was dulled out, that it was currently storming pretty bad. I barely managed to open my eyes, and saw that I was currently on a pile of rocks surrounded by trees, as well as quickly rising waters; the forest that I was currently in was flooding over. "Holy-!" I said a bit louder than I should have, as I looked around for an escape; there was none.

"Okay… It looks like I'm going to have to go through the water…" I said to myself as I slowly and carefully got to my feet on top of the pile of rocks, nearly slipping and falling into the water. I sighed and muttered a light prayer to either God or Arceus - The previous incident still made me sure where my religion lies - and then I stepped into the water with my right foot. The water, luckily, only went up to my knees. It would slow me down if I needed to make an escape from something, but it wouldn't do much. I looked at the sky, which currently held no sign of stopping from pouring rain.

 _Just my fucking luck._ I thought as I waded through the muck. _I get put into a new world, and it's already raining on my parade. Literally._ I sighed and continued to wade through the waters, which were now about halfway up my foreleg. That's when I heard growling coming from my right. Sounded like there were two creatures… _Wolves? Coyotes?_ I thought as my first instinct was to stop and look in that direction. I saw a pair of red eyes and something that was… flaming? Yes, flaming.

 _Creepy._ I said to myself as I continued to move on. Suddenly, I heard the sound of splashing behind me, and I turned around. All I saw was ripples from a point right behind me. I looked a bit closer, but I couldn't see anything due to the dirtiness of the water. Suddenly, I heard something from in front of me.

"QUI!" I heard, as I turned back in front of me. The only thing that I saw was an immense blast of fire that I tried to dodge, but it was too late. The blast hit me directly in the face, and I fell backwards into the water. _'Qui'? The only thing I know of firsthand that makes that sound is a Quilava..._ I thought, bringing up to mind that Pokémon couldn't be real. _Then again... I did find Arceus and Virizion up wherever I was... Maybe... Maybe they are real?_ I asked myself before I felt and saw something hold me down against the water.

It was an Absol. However, it was slightly larger than most Absols were, being at four feet tall. _Yup. Pokemon are definitely real_. I concluded. It had it's front paws wrapped around my neck, leaving me unable to breathe as well as keeping me under the water. I struggled to free myself from its pin, but to no avail. I could feel myself losing breath, and I clutched my chest with my hands. _This is where I'm going to die._ I thought, but then I suddenly brought my hand across the hilt of a knife.

Without thinking, I grabbed it and plunged the blade into the Absol's side. It certainly worked in freeing me; the Absol tried to swim away as I pulled the knife out, the water around us turning a blood red. I stood up, shoving the Absol out of my way and watching as it swam away weakly and limply, eventually sinking into the waters, never to be seen again.

I only had a second to enjoy my victory, for another blast of fire flew past my right ear. I could feel a sharp pain as it grazed my ear and singed my hair. I turned around and found the source;

A Quilava. No, correction; a _pissed_ Quilava. That wanted me dead.

I looked around and saw a small patch of grass to my right that was slightly higher than the current water level, like an island would be. In a desperate attempt to escape the Quilava, I ducked under it's next blast of fire and swam towards it, staying under the quickly rising and likely dirty waters as I did so. It took a few moments, but I felt my fingers graze against the small bit of land, and I pulled myself onto the practical island. I took a quick moment to assess the situation;

The Quilava was trying to snipe me with flaming balls of fire from the tree branch that it was on; Knowing my luck, I would end up burning to death if I tried to climb it. Taking a quick look around for any type of rocks or sticks that I could throw, I ended up with nothing. I could throw the knife at it if I wanted to, but that left me defenseless if the knife didn't hit, or if the body couldn't be found. I looked harder, and found an escape route that would lead me away from the Quilava. I thought, and then leaped back into the water, aiming to place the small island between myself and the Quilava.

I could only assume that it worked as I swam across the filthy floodwaters, listening as the Quilava's constant cries of "Qui! Qui! Quilava! Ava! Qui!" slowly began to fade in volume as well. That meant I was safe, for now, at least. I continued to traverse the floodwaters, seeing an area in the near distance that was elevated, like the island from before, except this area appeared to be much larger, and near the exit to the forest. I pulled myself on top of the landmass and collapsed onto the grass, breathing heavily. I decided to wait there for a few minutes before I pulled myself up, just to let my muscles relax a bit; I hadn't swam that far of a distance that fast in a while.

I looked around me, knowing for a fact that the rain was still coming down just as heavy as it was, if not heavier. On the bright side, it still appeared to be daylight, according to where the brightest spot in the sky was; smack-dab above me. I looked around, and saw a small sign, about five feet tall with a white border, like one of those signs you would find outside a ranch. I approached it, reading the bold white font.

" **Welcome to Coumarine City. Population: 43"**

"Coumarine City… I haven't heard of this place before." I said to myself as I looked around. "So… This is the world of Pandora…? Looks more like a Pokemon region to me… Is this Kalos, maybe?" I asked myself as I took a look around the city. I saw a ferry nearby, and stared. _Hm. Well, if it'll help me figure out where I am, maybe I should try to get on board._ I thought, as I approached. A man who appeared to be about a few inches taller than I was and definitely bulkier than I was walked up to me. "That'll be ten Poke, please." He said, with a scratchy voice, like he was some kind of metal artist or something who had lost his voice over the years of his works.

"Hm? Ten… Poke?" I asked, slightly confused. _Okay… So… This has to be a Pokemon world… But where? I think this is Kalos…_ I asked myself, noticing the irritation on the guy's face.  
"Yes, ten Poke. If you don't have the cash, then get outta here!" He shouted, launching a few small drops of saliva onto my face, which I immediately wiped off.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" I said, as the guy groaned in disgust and went back to where he was before. But, oh, I had no plans of going away… _I have one shot to do this… I can't blow it._ I waited until the guy had his back turned, and then I snuck right past him, slipping onto the ferry unnoticed, a quiet creaking finding it's way of the white-stained However, I knew that the guy would see me if I stayed where I was. I took notice of a wooden crate nearby, and peered into it; luckily for me, the crate was empty, and the lid was right next to it.

I looked back in the direction of the guy, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that he was coming back onto the ship, followed by another guy, this one skinny and wearing a long sleeve white button-down shirt, along with a white pair of pants, both seemed to be made out of linen cloth. His black shoes were nearly silent and nearly shone in the dim light of the nearby lamp as he stepped closer, and his white sailor's cap with a golden anchor on the front that reminded me of a pilot's cap… except with an anchor.

Without thinking, I quickly threw myself into the crate, placing the lid over the top as I did so; I assumed that, from the outside, nobody could see me. I heard the footsteps right outside of the crate, and stopped moving, and lowered my breathing, listening to the two men talk.

"We had someone try to get on without paying the fine just a bit ago." The large man's scratchy voice said.  
"Really?" A quieter, smoother voice said. I couldn't help but to assume that the voice belonged to the man in the sailor outfit. "10 Poké is so easy to get! Why can't people just pay the fine?"  
"Dunno. But, what matters is that I haven't seen him again. You're about to take off?"  
"Yeah. Hey, we have two more people coming... Looks like one of the Half-Bloods and his friend... What was the Absol gijinka's name again?"  
"Like hell I know. I can't remember names very well..." At that, I heard footsteps leading away from the crate. "I'll be in the sailor's cabin for the rest of the time, piloting the ship. You will be here when I return?  
"You bet. See you later." I heard the bulkier bodyguard's heavier footsteps leading away from the crate that I was hiding in, and heard him very faintly talking to two other people to let them onto the ferry. I pulled out the knife that I had gotten in the forest, and looked at it in the light coming from a hole in the back of the crate.

The knife was obviously in a state of disrepair. The only thing holding the blade and the hilt together was a single piece of tape, and there were many chips and cracks in the blade; I was rather surprised that the knife didn't break apart when I stabbed it into the Absol's side. The leather grip on the hilt was rather rugged, and it seemed frail compared to what I've seen before. Alas, it was all I had for protection at the moment, so I had to use it to it's best.

I heard two pairs of footsteps, and the muffled sound of what seemed to be paws on wood. The sound of paws got louder and louder, meaning that the owner of those paws was coming closer. As soon as it got really loud, the sounds stopped. I stopped moving, and held my breath. Whatever was outside the box began to sniff; it was smelling me. After a few seconds of that, the creature growled, and began to move away from the box - or, I assumed, at least.

"So… what's going on?" I heard from one of the people as I heard the loud scratching of the ferry undocking, and running into a small piece of lang. The sudden surge threw me to the left, and I was sure that someone would have noticed. After a bit, however, nobody noticed. I continued to listen into the two passengers' conversation.


End file.
